What is Green Remodeling anyway?

There is a great movement in remodeling and building that is called Green Building. There are so many people talking about Green.

There are several questions that come to mind. What does Green Building mean? How do you do it? How does Green building give the homeowner an advantage?

Green building can be a very broad scope, and can be achieved in many ways. To consider how green a building is, we need to first consider the areas that a home uses energy and material, as well as the effect and footprint it has on its inhabitants as well as the community.

For this article, we will consider the areas of green building and remodeling, and then, tips and ideas can be discussed.

Green building is a movement that is moving toward causing a smaller effect on our environment, particularly in the way we build and/or remodel homes. Here are some areas that should be considered (not necessarily an all-inclusive list):
• What resources are being used?
• Are these resources from recycled material, or engineered in a manner to prolong its lifespan and reduce maintenance needs?
• What resources can be recycled (for remodeling)?
• Can energy be saved?
• Does the building use natural energy resources?
• Are the materials used healthy for the inhabitants of the building?
• Is there a plan to mitigate other effects of the building?
• Can continuing resources be collected or saved for future reuse?
• Is the craftsmanship such that reduces waste of materials and resources?
• Also consider that there are tax credits for building green! Not a bad idea.

This is just a start to the ideas. To read more about Green building, check the website for the US Green Building Council (USGBC) (www.usgbc.org) or check the Central Indiana NARI website for remodeler members who practice Green Remodeling.

There is a large movement is toward environmental responsibility in the building and remodeling industries. It is only reasonable that everyone do their part toward it.

Keep watching for more on Green Remodeling.

Tags: Green, remodeling
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